Phill Casaus: Even before the pancake breakfast, there's room at the buffet
Jul. 1—We're closing in on the Fourth of July. I tell myself I'm saving room for pancakes on the Plaza, plus the strawberries.
I've alerted my wife that — as per norm — I will be absconding with half of her pancake allocation. That way, we can both maintain our figures.
With food on my mind, I realize it's been awhile since we've had a spread at the Sunday buffet. Here are a few notes and noodles from the news table.
----If you're a numbers nut, I suggest you dig around the Santa Fe Data Platform — santafedata.org. It's rife with interesting figures about the city and county; statistics that matter when it comes to funding, policy, direction.
On that front, here's an interesting note. Santa Fe County's median age is significantly higher than the state's by nearly a decade. The median age here is 47.1; the state's median is 38.3. If you're in health care, housing (or newspapers), that's a startling number.
Oh, and just so we're clear: According to the most recent census numbers, there are 153,632 people in Santa Fe County; 86,935 of them in the city. The state of New Mexico's population is 2,109,366.
----One of the city's blessings is its ability to attract top-level authors, and not just when the literary festival is in town. Toward that end, Global Santa Fe and Collected Works Bookstore last week announced Jeffrey Toobin will be speaking July 18 at Hotel Santa Fe.
Cost of admission is $35 for nonmembers and $25 for Global Santa Fe members. For information on registering, go to globalsantafe.org or call 505-982-4931.
Toobin, you know. He's written 11 books and was a commentator on CNN for many years. His most recent is Homegrown: Timothy McVeigh and the Rise of Right-Wing Extremism. He'll discuss how the man who planned the stunning bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City in 1995 became radicalized and planned an act of terror that lingers to this day.
Toobin also covered the Supreme Court for years. It's likely he'll have a thought or two on what's happening there. The justices have been making some news.
----It's almost frightening to write it, but July 4 is the new kickoff to election season. It used to be Labor Day, but with early voting becoming more popular, expect to see candidates out and about next week, or at the very least, solidifying their campaigns as we move toward the fall. In Santa Fe, there are City Council seats up for grabs.
Toward that end, it was interesting to note a proposal City Councilors Jamie Cassutt and Renee Villarreal are hoping to put on the ballot. Their measure would establish a permanent funding stream for affordable housing through a 3% excise tax on the transfer service of homes selling for more than $1 million. The revenue would go to the Affordable Housing Trust Fund.
It's an idea that will get plenty of scrutiny. What also should get an airing is how the Affordable Housing Trust Fund's money is allocated.
No, that's not an insinuation it's done badly or nefariously. I'm only suggesting there are a lot of ways to dole out the money, and the ratios can (and perhaps should) be debated. For instance, some affordable housing experts believe the fund should be more targeted to new construction of affordable housing when much more currently is headed toward rental and down payment assistance.
----From the Under the Radar Department: Santa Fe County's La Sala Center recently was honored with an Achievement Award from the National Association of Counties. The center, which opened in June 2021, serves as a safe and secure spot for adults with behavioral health issues and helps families and caregivers to find assistance during a crisis. The award will be presented at a luncheon in July in Austin, Texas.
----Also under the radar is the 31st annual Zia Regional Rodeo, which is sometimes in the shadow of June's Rodeo de Santa Fe. But the Zia rodeo, put on by the New Mexico Gay Rodeo Association, will return Aug. 26-27 at the rodeo grounds. There also will be a rodeo school for beginners at 11 a.m. Aug. 25. Anyone who wants to know about calf roping on foot (and who doesn't?), steer decorating, chute dogging or goat dressing is welcome. Those events are designated as starter events in rodeo competitions.
----Finally, this: The banners honoring local veterans are finally waving again, and I was struck by one that honors Medal of Honor recipient Louis Richard Rocco. He was born in Albuquerque, not Santa Fe, but I don't think it matters. When you read the details of the things he did in Vietnam in 1970, saving several soldiers under fire despite terrible injuries, any city or state would be proud to call him their own. Though he grew up in California, he returned to New Mexico in later years and was a veterans advocate. Rocco died in 2002. I'm glad he's not been forgotten.
Phill Casaus is editor of The New Mexican.
